The nine fire lotuses slowed abruptly the moment they struck that dense stretch of space.
Like birds flying into thick honey, they slowed by far more than tenfold.
The first fire lotus was squeezed out of shape, compressed from a blossom into a flat cake of blue-white flame.
Then it shattered into sparks that scattered across the sky. The second and third lotuses struck in succession, only to be crushed apart by that space hammered hard.
When the fourth fire lotus struck, the dense space finally reached its limit.
A spiderweb crack appeared within it, spilling hazy fragments of law.
The fifth fire lotus drove into the opening and doubled the crack's width. The sixth smashed into its center, shattering the entire stretch of dense space like a sheet of ice.
The remaining three fire lotuses shot through the broken space, straight at Iron Hammer's face.
Iron Hammer swung his hammer across to block.
The three lotuses struck the hammerhead in turn. The first exploded into a towering wave of blue-white flame, driving into its face. His arms dipped slightly.
The second burst close behind it. The combined impact numbed his wrists and sent his heels sliding half a step backward.
When the third exploded, it blasted away a large section of the hazy protective layer of law around the hammerhead. His arms were forced apart.
The handle slipped from his hands and struck the ground. He staggered back five steps before finding his footing, his collar scorched and curled by the wave of heat that washed over him.
He glanced down at the palms he had used to grip the hammer. Both were bright red, with blisters burned into several spots.
He shook out his hands, then picked up the fallen giant hammer again.
He brought it down hard